Time Crush
by Realm Of Chaos
Summary: Characters from ff7, 9 and x2 get propelled into the realm of ff8 Please R&RNOTE: DISCONTINUED
1. The End

Time Crush  
  
Chapter 1  
  
"What is it?" asked Paine, as she stared at the bizarre shapes the magical field in front of the Celsius was creating.  
  
"I have no idea. I'm just a kid, what do I know?" said Shinra from his seat.  
  
"It's the end of the world!" cried Rikku, from under the control panels near Shinra's desk.  
  
"Rikku, calm down. We'll figure out what it is. Don't worry." said Yuna.  
  
Suddenly, as if on cue, the Celsius was rocked by a massive explosion.  
  
"AAGH! We're all gonna DIE!!!!!" shrieked Rikku.  
  
"Cdibet kenm!" Paine shouted at the Al Bhed girl.  
  
"Oui pimmo!" was the reply.  
  
Another explosion caused Rikku to start sobbing.  
  
"Buddy, what's the damage?" Brother asked.  
  
"We've lost all power to the rear engines, and the front port engine's as good as dead. We're gonna crash."  
  
"I knew it! We're doomed!"  
  
"Rikku, SHUT UP!"  
  
"Well, I can't help it that I have emotions, and FEELINGS!"  
  
"Shut up, you obnoxious spoilt brat!"  
  
"You shut up!"  
  
"Will everyone CALM DOWN!" shouted Yuna.  
  
Everyone was silent, and looked at her.  
  
"Thank you. Buddy, can you and Brother land us safely?"  
  
"We'll give it a damn good try!"  
  
The Celsius began it's shaky descent. Things would have gone well if the crippled airship hadn't been struck by a bolt of lightning.  
  
"We've lost all power!" cried Brother  
  
"Paine, a… are we gonna die now?" Rikku stammered.  
  
"Yes Rikku. We are going to die" the red eyed girl replied.  
  
"Oh." She began to sob again.  
  
The three girls huddled together. As the powerless ship continued to it's rapid appointment with the ground, various prayers could be heard from the members of the Gullwings…  
  
---------------------------------------------------------  
  
"Son of a Bitch!"  
  
"Zell, mind your language."  
  
"Sorry, Ma."  
  
Strange things were happening in the town of Balamb. Cars were turning into piles of rust overnight, dead flowers had come back to life, and there was a blue haze to the air.  
  
"Zell, there's a call for you. It's Squall, from the Garden."  
  
"Ok, Ma."  
  
The Boy rushed into the house, and grabbed the phone.  
  
"Hey, whassup boss man?" he said loudly.  
  
"Zell, you have to get back to the Garden right now. All shore leave for SeeD is cancelled. Matron say's it's really important."  
  
"Ok. Who else is in Balamb on shore leave? I'll go get them."  
  
"Xu says that it's just you and your lover."  
  
"Shut up, man. We'll be there in about five, ok?"  
  
"Ok. Squall out."  
  
Zell, left the house, and wondered where his girlfriend would be. Typical, she's never around when you really need her, is she? He thought to himself as he headed to the harbour. Aha! He thought, as a familiar blue jacket came into view.  
  
"Hey, Fujin!"  
  
"DINCHT"  
  
"Hey, is that any way to great your boyfriend?"  
  
The albino girl smiled.  
  
"APOLOGY"  
  
"Nah, it's ok. Whatcha doin?"  
  
"FISHING"  
  
"Well, the fish'll have to go hungry, cos Squall wants us back on the Garden right now. Shore leave's been cancelled."  
  
The grey haired girl looked disappointed. Turning to leave, she stole a quick his on Zell's cheek. Zell smiled.  
  
"Come on, let's go"  
  
"AFIRMATIVE"  
  
---------------------------------------------------------  
  
In the back room of a small local pub in a simple town on a strange shaped island on a pathetic bluish green planet, a long way away from all this, strange things were also happening.  
  
"What do you mean, It's crushing up? It's TIME, for gods sake! It's not as if it's something you can just stuff in your bag and rumple, is it?" The Girl who spoke was of average height, and had dark red hair. She was wearing a pair of blue jeans, and a Black t-shirt with the slogan 'Why are you reading my chest?' on it. She also had blue and white trainers on, and had green eyes.  
  
"Guess what, cutie. Time's really complex. However, it's also simple. If I said Quantum probability, it wouldn't even be the half of it. Humans didn't create time, they merely defined it. Just don't try to understand it. Do what physicians do, and ignore the bits that can't be easily explained, ok?" This speaker was a bit taller than the red haired girl, and had blond, almost white hair, and brown eyes. She was wearing a pair of camouflage style combat trousers, and a green halter top. She was also wearing a pair of black thick soled trainers.  
  
"Yeah, cos time can be rolled up like a carpet, and chucked into vans, can't it?" This speaker was almost 6 foot tall, and had a mischievous air about him. He had jet black hair, spiked up in such a way it made him look like he had a hedgehog on his head. He had blue eyes, and was wearing orange ¾ length shorts, and a yellow t-shirt.  
  
"Ben, you're so full of crap, you know that." This was another boy, who spoke with a thick Irish accent and was throwing a tennis ball against a wall, and catching it. He was over 6 feet tall, and had dusty black hair and almost black eyes. He was wearing a green t-shirt and nondescript green trousers.  
  
"Bollocks to you, Steve." came the reply from the one referred to as Steve.  
  
"Will you two shut up and concentrate." This was the blond haired girl again.  
  
"Sorry Sara." said Steve.  
  
"Yeah, sorry. Won't happen again." Ben said, sullenly.  
  
From a chair in front of a huge array of monitors and keyboards, and Indian voice said, "Um, we are having a problem."  
  
"What's wrong, Raj?" asked the girl now known as Sara.  
  
"Um, Ten minutes til the TSC gets totalled. If we're gonna do something, we need to do it now."  
  
"Wait. What's a TSC?" the red haired girl asked.  
  
"Time-space Continuum." This speaker was leaning on the wall near the door to the room. He was incredibly tall, about 6 foot 7, and he had a large bandana on his head, covering his left eye. He was wearing a black shirt, and black combat trousers. His visible eye was grey. He was also wearing the same type of trainers as Sara's, but bigger.  
  
"Dave, ten minutes. What are we gonna do?" asked Sara.  
  
"Well, the book says there's no way of stopping it. I say we find the most stable reality, and try to steer as many mainstream storylines onto it as possible. Then, just before the crash, me and Emma'll go there, and try to sort things out from the inside. I get a felling we'll need all the character help we can get."  
  
"Whoa, wait a minute. Why me? I haven't had any experience of anything like this. What if I screw up?"  
  
"Honey, no-one's had experience of anything like this. It's a 'once in the entire existence of the multiverse' kinda thing."  
  
"Yeah, but why me? I'm inexperienced in these things anyway."  
  
"Well, the others'll have to be here to bring us back, and I can't do it alone."  
  
"You do realize that this stunt'll put some incredible stress on the timeline we focus on?" said Sara  
  
"Yeah, no shit. I'm not happy about this either, but it's the only choice we have, apart from stand around doing nothing."  
  
"Don't we kinda do that anyway?" Ben asked.  
  
"Shut up, man." said Steve.  
  
"Fine," said Sara," You two get ready, we'll find a timeline."  
  
---------------------------------------------------------  
  
Backed into a corner, the girl considered her best move. She could try fighting the huge, lion like beast, and die. She could try running away, and die, or she could climb up the cliff, fall off and die. The ninja started to sob to herself. Great, she thought, this is how I die, then? Mauled to death by I creature that appeared out of thin air. This is the end of Yuffie Kisaragi.  
  
---------------------------------------------------------  
  
Staring out to sea, the knight sighed. It had been a year since she had decided to start the search for her love again, and so far, there was nothing but more rumours about his death and wild goose chases.  
  
"Why stare at water? Is tasty?"  
  
The dragon knight laughed.  
  
"No Quina. I was just… never mind."  
  
"Freya come, eat. Is good" the Gourmand said to the sullen knight.  
  
"Ok. Thanks Quina."  
  
As the clown faced Qu waddled off to attend to the meal it had been preparing, Freya sighed.  
  
"Sir Frattley, where are you?"  
  
Suddenly, a large red jelly like creature appeared out of the sky.  
  
"What… what is it?"  
  
The creature bunched itself up, then let loose a flurry of volcanic blasts, knocking the knight off the cliff  
  
---------------------------------------------------------  
  
"Fifteen seconds to impact. It's been nice knowing you guys" cried Buddy.  
  
"YUNIE! What are we going to do?" the Blonde haired girl said, amidst sobs.  
  
"I…I don't know." the high summoner replied.  
  
"Ten seconds"  
  
"And now, it ends." said Paine softly, to herself.  
  
"Twenty five seconds… Hey. What's going on here?"  
  
Well, it's been…Buddy, did you just say fifteen, then ten, then twenty five?" asked Brother.  
  
"Yeah… this is really weird"  
  
As the Celsius continued it's strange descent, a dull grey light surrounded Yuna, Rikku and Paine.  
  
---------------------------------------------------------  
  
As the monster lunged, the ninja leapt up and drew her shuriken, plunging it's point right into the monsters back.  
  
"YEAH! Serves you right for trying to mess with the great ninja, Yuffie!"  
  
The creature merely roared and pulled the star out of it's back, and snapped it. With one sweep of it's claw, it picked up the girl, and held her up to look at.  
  
"HELP!!" she shouted  
  
Suddenly she was enveloped in a grey light.  
  
"What the…"  
  
---------------------------------------------------------  
  
The knight reacted quickly, and dug her lance into the rock face. She then leapt up and kicked the red blob, causing it to split in half. This didn't stop the blob, which merely turned into two smaller versions of itself. It then started dividing rapidly.  
  
"Uh oh…" was all the woman could think to say, as the blobs divided themselves every few seconds. Suddenly, a giant frog appeared in the air and dropped onto the gels, squashing them into the ground. Quina waddled up to Freya, and said, "Quina fat but not stupid! Quina eat lots of frogs, Quina get more power!"  
  
As the two fighters recovered, a grey cloud formed around them.  
  
---------------------------------------------------------  
  
"What is it?" Rinoa asked.  
  
"We think it's like the time compression that happened when we fought Ultimecia." said Quistis.  
  
"Oh, man! Don't tell me we're gonna have to fight her again?" said Zell.  
  
"I do not believe that this is her doing, although I can sense her power being used," said Edea, almost in a whisper, "and what's worrying me is that there's more than one evil influence in the swirls."  
  
"ORDERS?" asked Fujin.  
  
"Make sure people don't panic, and be prepared to fight at any time. Junction with your assigned guardians now, and try to calm people down."  
  
"That's all very well and good, but who's going to calm us down? Last I saw Selphie, she'd locked herself in the bathroom and didn't want to come out." said Irvine.  
  
As they set out to do their assigned duties and tasks, only Nida, the Garden's pilot, saw that the swirls of energy had turned grey.  
  
---------------------------------------------------------  
  
"OK. That's the last of them."  
  
"Good. This isn't going to be any fun, so I need you guys to be alert. Set up shifts, so no-one's tired on the job, ok? Emma, pick up the strategy guides, I get a feeling that we'll need them."  
  
"Right!"  
  
She rushed over to a television, where a large pile of magazines sat.  
  
"Dave, you be careful, ok?" Sara said.  
  
"You know me."  
  
"Exactly. We'll get the bastard that did this, won't we?"  
  
"Course. Ok, tell me who and where are we going to be dealing with?"  
  
"Well, you're going to 8, and we've managed to divert all of the x2 girls, the clown, the rat from 9, and the thief from 7."  
  
"WHAT?! You mean I've got to deal with two gung ho psychopaths, two manic depressants and two hyper freaks? Oh, thank you very much. You know how I am with people skills."  
  
"That's why Emma's going. Anyway, quit your bitching, it was the best we could do."  
  
"Twenty seconds to collapse."  
  
"You'll be going in just before it happens, we'll be using one of the echoes, so good luck."  
  
"We'll need it. You ready?"  
  
"Yep" said Emma.  
  
"OK. Lets go!"  
  
---------------------------------------------------------  
  
The following event can only really be described thus:  
  
Every single decision that has ever been made in the past, present and future has a number of different outcomes. Each one of these different outcomes gets lived out, in what can only be described as parallel universes. There is an infinite amount of them. However, It doesn't stop there. Every action, not just every decision, has it's own infinite amount of different possibilities. The Event about to happen here, known as a "Time Crush", compresses all of these different points of the multiverse into an area about the rough size and shape of a potato, chucks it into a blender and expands the result. However, before this happens, it sends echoes of this back into the past, causing hilarious mishaps all round.  
  
As you may have guessed, this causes a lot of confusion and general milling around whilst everyone waits for the apocalypse to happen.  
  
---------------------------------------------------------  
  
There are some great and legendary stories on this planet. Little red riding hood, King Arthur and his knights to name but a few. Now not many people… no, not many sane people would believe that they're all true. Every single one of them, even the one about the pigs and the wolf. And the one about the guy who turned water into wine. Not only that, but most of them get played out all the time. There is a great power within these stories, and if an individual can guide the story to it's completion, then that individual can harness the power contained within this story. It has only ever happened once.  
  
This story is the result of one of the echoes from the Time Crush.  
  
(AUTHORS NOTE: Well, here it is, the start of my legacy to the world. I'm really looking forward to sitting staring at my empty inbox waiting for someone on the other side of the world say I'm an ok writer. Many thanks to Diablo for giving me great vegetable related inspiration. I would also like to thank Ben for inspiring his character, and I'd like to say to Brid, you're character's coming in later.) 


	2. The Echo

Time Crush  
  
Chapter 2  
  
As has already been stated in an earlier chapter, time is both complex and simple. This, however, is not true. Time is a very simple thing. The perspective of time is complex, and this perspective can change time into a very complex thing. For example, time can move slower in different parts of the multiverse, mainly because if they didn't, this would be a very short and boring story. However, it can be explained. A story has power. Power can change things. Enough stories focusing on one particular place can change the time affecting this place. You will see the point of this later.  
  
---------------------------------------------------------  
  
The effects of the time echo can take anyone to anywhere at any time. It is also very unpredictable. As it happens, Dave and Emma didn't arrive along with all of the others in Balamb immediately, but in fact overshot slightly.  
  
The canyon walls seemed to rise up forever. The only way in or out would be through either teleported or by air. On one base, the blue's were angry, because a red soldier had just stolen their flag. One of the blues ran out after the red man. He stopped him next to a glowing triangle on the ground.  
  
"Freeze!" the blue one called after the red.  
  
"Hey! Why the hell are you shooting at me? you could have hit me dick!" the red one said back to him.  
  
"Can it. Don't try to play stupid with me sarge. I know who you are. We've been spying on you for three weeks now."  
  
"I just got here two hours ago, and I'm not a sergeant, I'm a private."  
  
"Wait a minute, you're not the sergeant."  
  
"Yeah, that's what I just said."  
  
"Well, then how the hell did you manage to steal our flag?"  
  
"Steal? I have no idea what the hell you're talking about."  
  
Suddenly, the triangle glowed green, and Dave and Emma emerged out of it.  
  
"What the hell! Who the hell are these guys?" the red soldier asked.  
  
"Um… Dave, this doesn't look very much like Balamb." Emma said  
  
"Yeah I know. Wait, can you hear that? Like a low buzz?"  
  
"Yes. It's getting louder."  
  
"Hey, what the hell's going on here?" the blue soldier asked.  
  
Then, as suddenly as they appeared, Dave and Emma disappeared again.  
  
"Huh. That was weird." the blue guy said.  
  
"Tell me about it"  
  
".. three!" Another blue soldier Yelled as he emerged from the teleported.  
  
"HOLY SHIT! Who the hell is THIS guy?" the red soldier cried.  
  
This is a good example of how stories work. Most of what you hear is part of a bigger picture, but through the years, people change bits and leave out all the bits about death, making the tales suitable for children. Maybe people who read this know the story behind this exert, maybe they don't. it's all a matter of perspective.  
  
---------------------------------------------------------  
  
"OW! Who's sitting on my arm?"  
  
"Will you get you're arse out of my face?"  
  
"What the hell's going on?"  
  
"CONFUSION!"  
  
"Where'd my glasses go?"  
  
"Who's treading on my tale?"  
  
"Where'd the monster go?"  
  
"Where'd the AIRSHIP go?"  
  
"Tail?"  
  
"How come there are so many people in here?"  
  
"Power's gone. Someone try to get together a light spell"  
  
"Where food gone?"  
  
"What the… where'd my body go? Is this it?"  
  
"Hey! Hands off, pal, that's me"  
  
"Sorry"  
  
"FLARE!!!"  
  
The room was suddenly lit up. Dave, the one who had fired up the spell, said "Calm down. Does anyone have any questions?"  
  
The room was silent, as everyone started to look around. Eventually, Squall managed to say, "WHAT THE HELL'S GOING ON?"  
  
"Ah. One of the difficult ones!" said Dave.  
  
"Who are you? Why are all these people here? Who are…? What…? Where…?" he fell silent.  
  
"I know it comes as a shock. Look, everyone get sorted out and upright, ok?"  
  
A few minutes later, a kind of shocked order had returned. People were too scared to really say anything.  
  
"Dave, um… we aren't in Balamb Garden."  
  
"Yeah, I know. There must have been a random lateral component to the echo. I'm really gonna kill Sara when we get back."  
  
"Um… what's going on, Mr Dave person?" a tall slim blond lady asked.  
  
"Well… it's difficult to explain to this many different people, so I guess if you introduce yourselves to each other, and we'll take it from there. I'll point at someone, and you tell us all a little bit about yourself. After everyone's done and only after, I'll be happy to answer everyone's questions." He pointed at Zell.  
  
"Er…hi. My name's Zell, I come from the town of Balamb, and I'm a fully qualified SeeD."  
  
"What the hell's a seed?" asked a little girl in a green top and cream shorts.  
  
"I said no questions til the end. For that, you're next"  
  
"Well, I come from Wutai, my name's Yuffie, and I'm a world famous ninja!"  
  
"Cute" said a tall rat-like woman.  
  
"Oi. You now."  
  
"I'm a Burmecian dragon knight called Freya, and I helped Queen Garnet and King Zidane beat Necron."  
  
"Who are all those people you just said?" asked a brown haired girl with one green eye and one blue eye.  
  
"For god's sakes, NO BLOODY QUESTIONS YET! Jesus Christ, do you people EVER listen? No, in fact don't answer that." He pointed to a short girl wearing a yellow dress. "You. Speak"  
  
"My name's Selphie, I'm eighteen years old, I lived in Trabia for most of my life, and I'm currently engaged. I love trains and my hobbies include goi…"  
  
"Stop right there, shorty. I said a few details, not a life story. Laughing boy," he pointed at Squall, "you're turn."  
  
Squall glared at him, but said, "My name's Squall. I'm a SeeD, and I was partly responsible for killing Ultimecia."  
  
"You" he pointed at a girl with red eyes and grey hair.  
  
"Paine."  
  
"Thank you for that valuable contribution, Paine. Other grey haired girl, you're turn"  
  
She merely glared at him.  
  
"UH, she's got this problem with her throat. It's really difficult for her to talk. Her name's Fujin." said Zell, walking over to her and hugging her.  
  
"Please stop. You're tearing me up inside, really," he said sarcastically, "Next."  
  
"Me Quina. Me hungry."  
  
"Well, whatever. You."  
  
"My name's Quistis, and I'm an instructor at Balamb Garden."  
  
"I'm Rinoa, I'm working towards becoming a SeeD."  
  
"My name's Rikku. I'm an Al Bhed, and I'm also part of a sphere hunter group."  
  
"Name's Irvine Kinneas, and I'm heaven on earth for every single lady."  
  
"Hey! You stop that right now!" Selphie cried.  
  
"Sorry luvva."  
  
"Can we cut the amateur dramatics? Thank you. Hey, Heterochromia iridis girl, you're turn."  
  
"Who?" Emma asked.  
  
"Ah, man. The one with the eyes different colours"  
  
"My name's Yuna. I'm the high summoner who defeated sin and brought the eternal calm."  
  
"Ok, that should be all of you. My name's Dave. This is Emma.."  
  
"Yo!"  
  
"…and we are from a small group of people that track paranormal and paranatural occurrences and activities. What we just experienced was an echo of a Time Crush. Very nasty event, time and space all kinda fucked up. Any Questions?"  
  
There was a moment of silence, then absolutely everybody started shouting at once.  
  
"SILENCE! O..K. Pointing system again. You've got one question each. Zell."  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"What's your question?"  
  
"What's an al bed?  
  
"The Al Bhed are an ethnic minority on the planet of Spira. It's covered almost 90% by water. Selphie?"  
  
"Um, Dave, I think we…"  
  
"Quiet, Emma. We're making progress."  
  
"Why is there a giant rat here?"  
  
"Watch it, small fry."  
  
"She's from Burmecia, and they all look like that there. Actually, come to think about it, the story never explained why, did it?"  
  
"Sorry, what story?" Paine asked.  
  
"Uh, Dave, we really should…"  
  
"Emma, please. I'm trying to do something here."  
  
"EXPLAIN" said Fujin.  
  
"Ah, kindred spirits are so lovely together."  
  
"DAVE!!!" Emma shouted.  
  
He sighed. "What?" he asked her.  
  
"Um… I think we'd better run. Like right now."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Because of that" She pointed into the depths of the cave they had all appeared in, and looking at them with interest was a very large dragon.  
  
"Son of a Bitch! Um, Freya, dragon knight, any idea what we should do?"  
  
"RUN!"  
  
As if all driven by this word, every one turned and ran away from the dragon as fast as they could. The first one out was Yuffie.  
  
"What the… where are we? I don't see a mako reactor anywhere"  
  
Rikku was the next one out. "Um, I don't think this is Spira."  
  
Selphie came out soon after, closely followed by Zell, Rinoa, Quina, Emma, Rikku and Yuna.  
  
"Where are the others?" Zell asked.  
  
Irvine came rushing out of the cave, and said to him, "They're staying and fighting that thing. They must be insane!"  
  
Back inside the cave, the dragon looked around curiously. This meal was going to be a lot more entertaining than she'd anticipated.  
  
"Quistis, Fujin, Keep it busy. I'm going to try and figure out how to deal with it." Squall shouted.  
  
"How about you five distract it, and I'll kill it?" Freya called as she leapt into the air.  
  
"Sounds good to me!" Dave called from behind a rock.  
  
The four who were left facing the dragon didn't really have any idea of what to do, so they tried everything. Quistis channelled her thoughts around it, and unleashed a volley of ice spells, but they didn't slow the dragon down. Fujin just stood there with a preoccupied look on her face, Squall was hacking at the thing for all he was worth, and Paine was preparing to change into a samurai.  
  
"SPEAR!!" Freya shouted as she threw her spear into the main body of the dragon. The mighty beast let out a huge roar, the echoed and reverberated all the way out of the cave. Fujin then shouted "PANDEMONIA!", and called forth the huge deformed beast. It inhaled as much air as it was capable of, and the resulting tornado sent the dragon spinning into one of the caverns walls. Paine had finished the dress sphere transition, and had readied a fearsome attack. Charging towards the stricken dragon, she yelled "Zantetsu!" and thrust the black blade deep into the dragon's belly. With a mighty roar, the dragon flamed at random, and slowly it's flame grew less intense, and stopped. As the fighters drew closer to the dragon corpse, it started to evaporate, leaving behind only a small scale and a claw.  
  
"Well, that went as well as could be expected really, didn't it?" Dave said whilst emerging from behind the rock.  
  
"What? You didn't do anything!" Squall shouted at him.  
  
"So, neither did you and I have an excuse. I'm a pacifist."  
  
The group who had beaten the dragon walked out of the cave.  
  
"SQUALL!!! You're ok!" Rinoa screamed as she saw her boyfriend walk out of the entrance.  
  
"Where the hell are we? What the hell are those things? Those huge machina?" Rikku asked.  
  
"What? You don't know what a train is? Man, what kinda backwards place are you from?" Yuffie said.  
  
"Oh boy. This is really going to be difficult, isn't it?" Emma said, "Look, all of you are from video games, at least on my planet. So from my perspective, you're all made up. I can prove it. Here," she swung her backpack off and reached into it, "on my planet, there's a company called Piggyback. They make strategy guides. Here," She passed a whiteish book to Paine, and one to Squall, "Those are the guides they make. That one's from a game called final fantasy eight, where they're from," she said pointing first to Paine, and then to the ff8 crew, " and that's final fantasy nine. The rat and the clown come from there."  
  
"Ok, I have absolutely no idea what you're going on about, girl," The red eyed warrior said.  
  
"Look, it's not important right now. What is important is shelter, and figuring out where we are" Dave said.  
  
"He has a point. We've got to find some way of contacting the Garden" this was Quistis.  
  
"As in the tradition, we'll split up into groups, and try and find a town." Dave said.  
  
"That's all well and good, but how would we contact each other?" Rinoa asked.  
  
"We'll… ah. Um…"  
  
"Dave, this is another time that you should let me deal with it." Emma said to him.  
  
"Right so."  
  
"OK. We'll go in three teams. Each team will have a leader. Each leader will have one of these," she pulled 3 walkie talkie type things out of her bag, " this will enable us to talk to each other."  
  
"Good plan, but there's no radio waves here! They won't work."  
  
"These don't use radio waves. They work on the an Ethernet. They'll work even if we're on opposite sides of the planet."  
  
"Fair enough. So, miss fearless leader, what are the teams? Who'd be best to go with who?"  
  
"Um…"  
  
"Thought so. You have absolutely no idea, do you? Emma, this is another time that you should let me deal with it. Three teams. Team one will be Emma, Zell, Fujin, Quina and Paine. The team leader will be Paine. Team two will be Squall, Quistis, Yuna, Irvine and Freya. Their team leader will be Squall. Team three, which is basically the others, will be lead by me."  
  
"And these teams are final, yes?" Emma asked.  
  
"Of course!"  
  
"And, of course, you do realize who you're teamed up with, don't you?"  
  
"Um… Rikku and Yuffie, I know that. There's also…Rinoa, and…Selphie. OH SHIT!"  
  
Emma grinned slyly. "Well done, Expert. You have fun with your team mates!"  
  
"Bugger off. Ok, team one, you go north, team two, go east, my team'll go west, and we'll rendezvous back here at sunset, if we haven't found anything."  
  
"Right" said Paine  
  
"OK" said Squall  
  
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Now, I know that this story doesn't appear to be going anywhere, but, if the three little pigs didn't have a good plot twist, it would be a shit story about a day in the life of a werewolf, wouldn't it? So bear with me. There's going to be some action soon, trust me. I'm the writer.  
  
---------------------------------------------------------  
  
"How much hitting does it take to kill one of these things?" Zell asked as the Adamantoise snapped at him.  
  
The fight had been going on for fifteen minutes now. Paine had already tried her samurai, warrior and trainer dress spheres. All she had left now was berserker, and then she could use her 'special' sphere. Pandemonia had already been and gone, destroyed by a single swipe of the great beasts armoured tail.  
  
"I say we run. This thing's too powerful!" Emma called as she struggled to remember any of the things she had been taught by her mentor. All of a sudden, a massive frog fell out of the sky onto the beasts head.  
  
"What the hell was that?" Paine screamed as she set the berserker sphere into the grid.  
  
"FROG DROP!" Quina called, tossing it's fork into the air, and catching it again.  
  
"I remember now!" Emma called form behind a rock.  
  
She closed her eyes, and concentrated on the task at hand. She started chanting a strange mantra. "Ko I Me Tu Ra. Ko I Me Tu Ra. Ko I Me Tu Ra." Hundreds of small knives appeared in the air beside the rock. She pointed towards the great tortoise, and the knives flew towards it at an alarming speed. Most of them bounced off the shell, but a few found their mark. The monster reared up in pain. Then, Paine roared back at it, having finished the transfer into the berserker outfit. She then set her special dress sphere into the grid, and changed. In the mean time, Zell had taken one hit too many, and it was about the time to fight back. He gathered all of his strength, and charged at the head of the monster, and landed a punch right square in the middle of it's forehead. It reared up again, and then flew onto it's back, under the force of Full Throttles Dextral wing. Flipped onto it's back, the Adamantoise could not fight back, and was very vulnerable. The final blow was delivered by Fujin, who threw her chakram straight into the belly of the mighty animal, and it penetrated. The monster roared one last time, and then started to evaporate. All that was left at the end was Fujin's chakram and a large piece of shell.  
  
"Well, that was easy!" Emma said, with obvious sarcasm.  
  
"HEY! What the hell do you think you're doing?" An irate man ran up to the group. "Why the hell did you kill it? I was hunting that thing for days!"  
  
"Er… sorry. It was kinda attacking us! Why were you hunting it?" Zell said to him.  
  
"The shells on those things are worth a mint!"  
  
"Is this what you were after?" Emma asked, showing him the shell.  
  
"Hell yeah! Hey, tell you what, if you give that to me, I'll overlook the fact that you killed my quarry, ok?"  
  
"Er… sure. Listen, what's your name, man?"  
  
"Name's Brid. Hunter extraordinaire!"  
  
"Well, Brid, Do you know where the nearest town is?"  
  
"No. Don't you?"  
  
"NO! Jesus Christ, this group's getting bigger and bigger!" Emma wailed.  
  
"Last town I was in was Midgar, and that was a week ago."  
  
"Well, you'd best come along with us. There's a lot of strange things happening, and we could get all the help we can get!" Zell said.  
  
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(Authors note: Told you, GoldElite-Warrior. There's your character. He'll probably get killed quite soon, so don't get your hopes up. I'd just like to say a huge Thank you to all the authors that I've been reading the stories of at the moment. Great entertainment, I love you all. I just hope someone gets the same inspiration out of my story that I get out of theirs.) 


	3. New arrivals

TIME CRUSH  
  
Chapter 3  
  
"Where the hell are they all coming from?" Freya called from her perch up in a tree.  
  
The Marlboro swarm was huge, too huge to be natural. It wasn't that the group couldn't kill the things, it was purely a question of mathematics. Five people against Thousands of acid spitting plants was not a happy equation.  
  
"Magic would be a nice thing right about now!" Irvine shouted as he desperately tried to reload hi gun with one hand, the other was beating away three of the venomous trees.  
  
"Any ideas?" Half skirt girl?" Quistis called as she tried desperately to untangle her whip from Squall's gun blade.  
  
"Hey! Don't insult the style. Hang on, I have an idea…" Yuna shouted, as she searched for her garment grid.  
  
Suddenly, a short girl wearing a black tight jumper and black trousers appeared in the middle of the group. She muttered a few strange words under her breath, and the front Marlboros started to fall asleep. Gradually, this spread and soon, most of the toxic flora were snoozing happily.  
  
"It'll only last for a few minutes. We've got to destroy them or they'll completely decimate the forest. Please you've got to help me!"  
  
"FIRAGA!!" Yuna cried as she felt a burst of intense heat surge from her fingers. At least three hundred Marlboro must have burnt up in the blast.  
  
"Please, we need to destroy the all!" the girl cried as she drew a small metal device out of her pocket, and threw it at the stricken plants. The device blew up, taking eighty of the beasts with it.  
  
"Blue magic, would that work?" Quistis asked as she started to focus on the somewhat erratic spells contained in her subconscious.  
  
"Only if it's fire based. They're weak to fire."  
  
"Wait, where did you come from?" Squall asked the short girl.  
  
"That's not important right now. It's vitally important that these things die!" she screamed back. There were tears falling from her eyes.  
  
"FIRE BREATH!" Quistis shouted as she opened her mouth. Tongues of ethereal fire sprouted from her, incinerating the vile monsters in front of her. Almost all of the plants were destroyed by this attack, and Irvine and Squall were able to pick off the rest of them.  
  
After the carnage was over, all that was left was 4 tentacles. The team gathered these elusive items, and walked over to the new girl. She was sobbing slowly.  
  
"Hey, are you ok?" Yuna asked.  
  
"OH, thank you all so much!" she said, hugging the ex-summoner hard.  
  
"Um… it's…ok" she replied, struggling to breath.  
  
"My god. Thank you all!" she said, tears slowing from her eyes. She then ran over to Quistis and hugged her in the same way.  
  
"Um…I Can't breathe!" Quistis squealed.  
  
"Oh. Sorry," the girl said, "My name's Loki. I'm from the future."  
  
"oh boy, another future nutter. Look, I don't believe any of you are from the future. As far as I'm concerned, I'm just dreaming. This is all a bad dream!" Freya shouted at her.  
  
"Denial always happens, but what do you mean about other ones? Who else has been saying that they're from the future?"  
  
"Oh, just some guy and a girl. The guy was real tall, and the girl was hot," Irvine said, "as are you, gorgeous."  
  
"Man, will you shut up, you're engaged." Squall said to his cowboy companion.  
  
"Oh yeah. Sorry."  
  
"I'm not the one you should be apologising to."  
  
"Oh yeah. Sorry lil lady, but I'm taken."  
  
"Yeah, whatever. Look, Freya, what were the other one's names?"  
  
"How did you know my name?"  
  
"Because I'm for the future, dragon knight. Please tell me who the others were."  
  
The knight early turned and sat down on a rock.  
  
"The girl was called Emma, and the boy… I have no idea what his name was. Sorry." Quistis said to her.  
  
"Oh. Well, if the girl was Sara, I might have known, but never mind, although Emma… nah. At least you could take me to meet them. I'd be really grateful."  
  
"Um… I've got a question. Why were you so concerned about the forest if you're not from here?" Yuna asked Loki.  
  
"Well, I've actually lost my ability to travel vast distances in time. The equipment was in the forest. It's been my home for a year now. If it got destroyed, I'd never be able to see my love again. I'd never be able to find my way home either."  
  
"Well, I'll radio The boss guy, and tell him what's been going on." Squall said to the now group of 5.  
  
---------------------------------------------------------  
  
"Right, ok, fine. Well, we'll be back at the cave in about two hours. See you there." Dave said into the Ethernet terminal.  
  
"Who was that?"  
  
"Squall. They've found some girl called Lown key or something, and they fought off a swarm of Marlboro…"  
  
Suddenly, a little noise came from the terminal.  
  
"I'll bet that's Emma."  
  
"Um…shouldn't you answer those in a less…uh…gravitational?" Rikku asked.  
  
"Nah, I'm ok," He pulled the terminal out from his pocket, and pressed the answer button, and said, "Talk to me, man."  
  
"Dave, it's me, Emma."  
  
"No shit. What do you want?"  
  
"Just wanted to tell you we've had loads of battles, and we beat an Adamantoise! We also found this guy called Brid, and he say's he'll be able to find a town tomorrow!"  
  
"Ok. Well, you meet everyone else back at the cave in 2 hours, ok?"  
  
"Right. See you then"  
  
"Whatever"  
  
The transmission ended.  
  
"So, who was it?" Selphie asked.  
  
"Shut up. It was. They killed an Adamantoise. So, while the other groups have been having fun killing things, we…" The branch he was hanging onto started to snap. "Oh crap. We've been in this tree for an hour, trying to get this FUCKING CAT DOWN! I don't even like cats!"  
  
"Well, it can't get down, and it's in need of our help." Rinoa said to him, as the kitten edged onto another branch, to get away from Dave.  
  
"So why didn't one of you get it?"  
  
"Because we're all too short to climb up!" Selphie said.  
  
"oh yeah…" he said, as the branch broke even further, and Dave said, "oh………fuck!" as the branch broke, sending man and feline crashing to the ground.  
  
The fall was quite comical, with amusing noises all round. As with tradition, Dave was the first to hit the floor, followed by the branch, followed by the kitten, who was unharmed.  
  
"Oh my god! Is it ok?" Selphie screamed.  
  
"Yeah, the kitty's fine" Rikku said to the concerned girl.  
  
"Man, you fell real bad, boy! It was funny!" Yuffie said to the fallen leader.  
  
"Thank you, Wutai ninja, I'll remember you said that. OW!"  
  
Suddenly the ground started rumbling.  
  
"What's that!" Rikku shrieked.  
  
"Oh, it's just a train. Remember, I told you about them." Yuffie said to the shaking Al Bhed girl.  
  
"Wow," she said as she saw the metal monstrosity that was the Tempest TTS-2 heavy armoured train, "I'd love to have a look at one."  
  
"Well, I'll take you, ok? Rikku?" Yuffie said, whilst trying to understand the strange messages her brain and stomach were trying in vain to send her.  
  
"Thanks, that would be nice." Rikku said to the little ninja.  
  
"Wait, hold on a minute. Trains. BLOODY TRAINS! We can just follow the rail lines! Aw, man! Why didn't I think of that before? SHIT!"  
  
"Well, that's not really leader qualities, I bet Squall's thought of that by now." said Rinoa, with the haughtiness of a generals daughter.  
  
"Well, really. Well, he should have said so when he was ON THE ETHERNET! SHUT THE FUCK UP RIGHT NOW!!!" Dave shouted at her.  
  
He got the Ethernet transmitter out, and signalled to both the other team leaders.  
  
"Hello?" Squall said.  
  
"What now?" Emma said.  
  
"I've had a new idea. We'll follow the railway tracks. We're bound to find a town sooner or later like that."  
  
"Good idea."  
  
"Well done Dave. Why didn't you think of that before?"  
  
"Shut up. Meet back at the cave as soon as possible."  
  
"Mr Dave, can we keep the kitten?" Rikku asked him.  
  
"Will you whinge if I say no?"  
  
"Of course."  
  
"Well, fine, as long as I can name it."  
  
"Ok."  
  
"We'll call her Xiao. It's what my sisters cat was called. I like it."  
  
"Wow. It does really suit her. Hey, she likes it," she said, as the kitten started to purr.  
  
---------------------------------------------------------  
  
Back at the cave, Emma's group was the first group to get back. They decided that it would be a good idea to light a fire, because the cold was setting in, and they were all aching and didn't want to fight too much, and the flames would keep beasts and fiends away.  
  
"Well, it's nice to see that someone pays attention to my memos." Dave said as his group came into view. Xiao had taken up a perch on top of Rikku's head, and Dave was carrying Yuffie in his arms.  
  
"Wow, what happened to her?"  
  
"She's just tired. She practically fell asleep while walking, and I decided to carry her the rest of the way. It's scary, man. She weighs like five stone. She needs help."  
  
"I'll look after her!" Rikku said a little too quickly, "I mean, she's going to be showing me round one of those 'trains', so I need her to be healthy."  
  
"Whatever," Dave said as she set down the ninja close to the fire, and pulled out a little bottle from his pocket, "If you want to be helpful, get her to drink this. So," He said turning back to Emma, "Where's this new guy, then?"  
  
"Right here, man!" Brid said from the other side of the fire.  
  
"So, you know where there's a town around here?"  
  
"Yep. However, I can't find it, because I lost my compass."  
  
"Dude, are you a retard? Simple thing, sun rises in the east, sets in the west. So where's the town?"  
  
"Somewhere over there," He waved his arm in a southerly direction, "It's over the mountain, so we've got no chance of finding it."  
  
"Oh great. Bloody perfect, Emma, you've found us a sponger. Brilliant."  
  
"Hey, I am not a sponger. I didn't want to go along, she made me," he said pointing to Paine.  
  
"HEY! Did we miss anything good?" Irvine called out as Squalls group came into view around the edge of the mountain.  
  
"Who's the new person?" Emma asked Dave as the group got closer.  
  
"Oh, some forest girl called Lown Key, or something."  
  
"It…IT'S LOKI!" Emma shouted, and she jumped up and ran towards the short black clad girl.  
  
"Oh my GOD! EMMA! IS IT YOU?" The pint sized lady shouted as she too ran towards the girl. As they met, they grabbed each other and embraced.  
  
"Oh, I thought I'd never see you again!" Loki said as she hugged Emma.  
  
"How long has it been?" Emma asked the girl.  
  
"Too long, Emma. Too long."  
  
"I missed you."  
  
"I missed you too."  
  
"I… I…"  
  
"Hey, where do you want this stuff, Loki?" Squall asked as he dumped some unidentifiable hardware onto the ground.  
  
"Be careful with that, it's the power matrix for the particle accelerator." Loki said, breaking up her embrace with Emma, and striding up to Squall.  
  
"Sorry. This stuff is heavy you know."  
  
"Why again did we have to cart this stuff here?" Quistis asked the short girl.  
  
"Because without it, no time travel's going to happen around here any time soon." The girl said as she entered the 'camp'.  
  
"Hey, Loki, whassup?"  
  
"DAVE! Oh my god! How've you been?"  
  
"Good, good. Trying to save the multiverse from a cataclysmic disaster, but apart from that, everything's cool."  
  
"Same old Dave, then"  
  
"Whatever. Hey," he said as Xiao cam and rubbed up against him.  
  
"Wow, someone's made a friend," Paine said as she sat down on a rock, "It's more than I could do" she whispered.  
  
"I still don't believe any of this" Freya said.  
  
"Hey, uh, Freya wasn't it?" Paine said to her.  
  
"Yes, what?"  
  
"Some of the moves you were doin gout there were pretty good. Could you show me sometime?"  
  
Freya smiled. "Sure."  
  
Paine smiled. "Thanks"  
  
"DAVE!" Rikku shouted.  
  
"What?" he said to the green eyed girl.  
  
"She's hurt real bad. I don't think she's going to make it."  
  
"So, us some magic."  
  
"But, I can't, you know, change now! It'll be weird."  
  
"Ok, so a little girl died because you were modest."  
  
"Well, That's a good point…"  
  
"You goddamn right it is! Jesus. OK, People, we're heading off at dawn, so get some sleep, ok? OK?"  
  
"Sure" said Zell.  
  
"Yes, sir!" Yuna said.  
  
---------------------------------------------------------  
  
Late into the night, when almost everyone was asleep, something strange happened. The first was a muffled mew, the next was a moment of dimensional and physical instability, and the next was a quiet swearword and some fumbling around. Dave was the only person awake, purely because he never slept, really. Well well well, he thought to himself as he put a bookmark into a well worn book, So it doesn't just look like my sisters kitty, it IS my sisters kitten. Xiao, you'll be needing some clothes, unless…  
  
"OK, Xiao, you can come over here, I won't hurt you."  
  
"mrrrow, where am I? What happened to me?" The cat-girl asked as she crept over to the tall boy.  
  
"Xiao, you've been changed into an almost human. If the change is permanent, we'll need to get you some clothes.  
  
"rraow, why has it happened?"  
  
"You were my sister's pet, and she has a tendency to be experimental with magic."  
  
"I allwways wanted to be human."  
  
"Cool. I tell you what, we'll keep this as our little secret, ok. I don't want anyone to know you're a cat. Now, you need some clothes. Emma always has spares, and I'm sure I can cut something into your size."  
  
"Thank you, master."  
  
"Call me Dave."  
  
"Thank you, Dave"  
  
"Hey, it's ok."  
  
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As you may or may not have guessed, there's more than one story interlinked here. The pressure exerted on the timeline by the echo is causing it to have breaches into other existences, so there are certain points where existence streaming will happen, where two existences interlink, and you can pass freely between the two.  
  
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(Authors note: So there's more than just final fantasy here. Like I care, I like Xiao. She's cute. As you may have noticed, there's the start of things going on between certain characters in this fic. There will be developments, but if I told you, I'd have to kill you. So just stay hooked, ok?) 


	4. Journey begins

Time Crush  
  
Chapter 4  
  
"Ok, I guess we're going to have to teach you something about how humans think, aren't we?" Dave said as he watched Xiao playing with a blade of grass.  
  
"Why would we have to do that, master?" the cat-girl asked him.  
  
"First off, it's Dave, not master. I hate subservient. Second, if you act like you do now, people are gonna get suspicious. At least Sara was sensible enough to put some stuff into Emma's bag, otherwise we'd be in a really embarrassing situation. Ok, how on earth am I gonna do this, then?" he said, half to himself, half to his new charge.  
  
"Dave, am I going to stay human?" Xiao asked him.  
  
"Depends. Do you want to?" He said.  
  
"Um. I dunno. I want to experience it first. Then I'll decide." the little girl said to him.  
  
"You know, you've got it all figured out, haven't you? Being human's really complicated. Listen…"  
  
Dave sat up most of the night, teaching and talking to the half beast. They only stopped when Xiao was too tired to keep her eyes open.  
  
"Get some sleep, girl. You'll need it." Dave whispered into Xiao's ear as he pulled a blanket onto her.  
  
"Well, isn't this a fine turn up for the books?" Loki said, making the tall boy jump.  
  
"God damn. You always do that, don't you?" Dave said to the girl who was almost two feet shorter than he was.  
  
"Yep. I'm famous for it. So, the little kitty was actually a changeling. How interesting."  
  
"You know, I'm still pissed at you. I don't want you telling people that Xiao is a cat."  
  
"Oh, and I suppose that you've got a much better idea of how to disguise things?"  
  
There was a moment of silence.  
  
"Shut up. I've been teaching her all night. That is a fine detail. I'd have been able to blag my way through it, anyway. Why?" he asked, grinning, "Do you have a better idea?"  
  
"Of course. I know you were training her, and I also saw the attitudes you have with each other. You weren't nasty or obscene with her at all. I think you're in love."  
  
"You see, now this is exactly why I hate you. What was your idea?"  
  
"She's the cat's owner, trying to find her way home. The cat ran off again, and all we can do now is get to the town."  
  
"You know, I can see what Emma sees in you."  
  
"What? She sees something in me?"  
  
"Ignore what I said, I'm just babbling. Lack of sleep you know."  
  
"Ok. Why again are you annoyed with me?" The short girl asked as she sat down next to the bandana'd boy.  
  
"You left us in the lurch. With all those skeletons, there where thousands of them, and you just vanish."  
  
"I had to. My time had run out. If it's any help, I was whisked straight here, and my travel stuff got broken. I wanted to go back, but I couldn't. I'm sorry."  
  
"Ok. I forgive you, now get some sleep, I've got a hunch about something."  
  
---------------------------------------------------------  
  
Early the next morning, the whole group was wakened by the smell of nice things cooking. When people were awake enough to notice things, they saw Dave, Loki and Emma sitting around the fire, talking and cooking.  
  
"What smells so good?" Paine asked. She was the first up, and was worried about the company she had kept last night.  
  
"It's chocobo eggs and flame toasted home made bread." Emma said, as she tended to the pan on the fire. "You want some?"  
  
"Yeah. Thanks."  
  
"MMMMM! What is that delicious smell?" Zell said, receiving a random pillow from someone who wanted to stay asleep for a bit longer.  
  
"Chocobo eggs and toast."  
  
"Sounds nice."  
  
"Oh, if either of you want a shower, there's a little stream about five minutes walk into the glade" Loki said as she pointed south east, into a little clump of trees.  
  
"Morning." Rikku called out to the crew around the fire. She then went to check on her patient.  
  
A few minutes later, Squall and Rinoa woke up.  
  
"Morning Rinoa, laughing boy." Dave called out as he poked at the eggs that he had just been given, "You two really rocked the kasbah last night."  
  
Rinoa had the decency to look embarrassed. Squall merely scowled.  
  
"Why do you call me laughing boy?" Squall asked.  
  
"Dunno. Probably because of some hidden irony, but then, who knows?" was the reply.  
  
"What's cooking?" Rinoa asked.  
  
"Chocobo eggs and toast. You know, I'd be better just writing it down, cos everyone's gonna be asking me that, aren't they?" Emma said.  
  
One by one, the various denizens of the group woke up and got a meal. the last one up was Xiao.  
  
"What smells so nice, master?" She said, sitting up from Dave's sleeping bag.  
  
"Who the hell is that?" Quistis asked.  
  
"Here name's Xiao. The kitten we found was hers. She came looking for her last night, but the cat got away again. She's going to come with us to town. And Xiao, there's some breakfast here for you, and it's not master, it's Dave, ok?"  
  
"Yes Dave"  
  
"Come here, I'll introduce you. This is Quistis. That's Fujin, don't talk to her, she's scary. Exhibit C over there's Yuna. She's nice if you can stand constant world saving. This is Loki. The dude over there's Brid, and that's Irvine. Stay away from him. That's an order. Girls over there are Rikku and Yuffie. This is Emma, and that's Freya. Large thing eating all the leftovers is Quina, and the one buzzing over there is Selphie. That's Squall, that's Rinoa, and the lady over there, that's Paine. And last but not least, that's Zell."  
  
"Hi everyone."  
  
There was a chorus of hi's and hello's.  
  
"Here girl. Have some breakfast."  
  
"Thanks"  
  
---------------------------------------------------------  
  
After breakfast, the group gathered their things, and set out. After about ten minutes, they came across the railway lines.  
  
"Ok, so which way do we go?" Emma said to Dave.  
  
"Dunno. I say we flip a coin. Heads we go north, tails we go south" Dave said.  
  
"Seems to me, you have no idea what you're doing." Rinoa said.  
  
"Will you shut up." Dave said to her.  
  
"So, which way do we go?" Yuna asked.  
  
Dave got a coin out of his pocket, and flipped it into the air. It landed on the ground, and started spinning. Everyone crowded round to see what the coin would end up as. The coin stopped spinning, and didn't fall over.  
  
"Hmm. Well that can't be good." Dave said.  
  
He flipped the coin again, and this time he caught it, and covered it. It was revealed as a tails.  
  
"South it is." Loki said.  
  
As the group started to head south, Xiao picked up the coin, and looked at it. Both sides were tails.  
  
"Dave, there's …" She started  
  
"Xiao, I think it would be a good idea not to finish what you were about to say, ok?" Loki said.  
  
"Why's that?" Xiao asked.  
  
"Because Dave knows how stories go, and the story goes we head south. A lot of things Dave does are done for a reason. You just keep that coin, and keep quiet, ok hon?"  
  
"Ok."  
  
After an hours walking, people were getting on each others nerves.  
  
"Are we there yet?"  
  
"What?"  
  
"I said, are we there yet?"  
  
"Jesus Christ I am getting so sick of answering that question."  
  
"Hey, we're all tired, and we don't know shit, so don't bitch at us, ok?"  
  
"Alright. Selphie, we aren't there yet. You will know when we're there, because there will be buildings. Now shut the fuck up."  
  
"Dave, we need to get some water soon, Yuffie's dehydrating." Rikku said.  
  
And, because words are more than just a way of telling monkeys where food is, the clouds decided to empty everything they had on the band.  
  
"AAGH! I hate water!" Xiao shouted.  
  
"Don't we all. Man, what are we going to do?" Zell said.  
  
"Hmm. Emma, you still any good with a needle?"  
  
"Yeah. Why?"  
  
"Trees!" he said, grinning.  
  
"Right." Emma said.  
  
Dave walked up to one of the trees, and kicked it with his right foot. The tree fell over. He did this for ten trees.  
  
"Ok. You sew, I'll cut, ok?"  
  
"What are you doing?" Freya asked.  
  
"Dave's an expert with mechanisms and mechanical processes. He can make working umbrella's from the wood of the trees, If I sew up the leaves, we'll have enough for everyone in about ten minutes."  
  
"But it's raining now." Paine said.  
  
"Better a little wet than soaked through." Dave said to the red eyed warrior.  
  
---------------------------------------------------------  
  
With the new umbrella's in hand, the group set off again. After another hour, the rain stopped. Half an hour after that, they reached the end of the line.  
  
"All railways lead to somewhere. Nice move, fool." Squall said, sarcastically  
  
"Shut the fuck up laughing boy. I'd intended for this. The coin I flipped was double tailed."  
  
"Yeah, right, like we're going to believe that." Freya said  
  
"It's true!" Xiao said. She pulled the coin out of her pocket and showed it to them.  
  
"Ok, but how did you know?" Yuna asked.  
  
"Because you never go north. It's always better to go south."  
  
"So, where are we?" Irvine asked.  
  
"Train graveyard. They take all the trains that are almost broken, and dump them out here." Squall said.  
  
"Yep. Laughing boy got something right. And soon, we'll have our own train." Dave said.  
  
"How do you mean?" Brid asked.  
  
"Did you not hear Emma say expert with mechanical processes. A train is basically a big mechanical process. Even if there isn't a single working component here, I'll have a working train in about an hour."  
  
"Do you need any help? Cos I work on the Ragnarok at Balamb." Irvine said.  
  
"Sure. Everyone else, find decent bits of metal, sheets screws, anything that can be used again."  
  
As the group spread out, Dave had a look at some of the train bodies around him.  
  
"Xiao, stay here, we've still got some stuff to go through. Irvine," He said to the cowboy, "There's something you need to know about Xiao."  
  
"She's the cat, I know." was all the cowboy said as he pulled the door of one of the dead trains.  
  
"You know, I underestimated you. You're a lot more observant than I gave you credit for. Well done."  
  
"Also, in case you haven't noticed, there's a bit of animosity in the group. If they find out this secret, spark are gonna fly."  
  
"You don't say. Is that one going to be any good?"  
  
"Nah. Boiler's banged up good."  
  
"Damn."  
  
"DAVE!!"  
  
"Xiao, what's up?"  
  
"Would this one work?" She said, as the two boys came up to the train.  
  
"Man, it's perfect. No bodywork ruptures, the boiler's still in good nick." Dave said as he jumped up to join his feline companion.  
  
"Um… it has no wheels." Irvine called up to them.  
  
"Wheels can be fixed easier than engines."  
  
"True."  
  
Ten minutes later, progress was going on. All the detritus had been cleared, and Squall, Zell and Freya had even found an intact carriage. The train's engine was working, and all they had to do was put three wheels on and get the thing onto rails.  
  
"Wow. I take back what I said. You aren't too bad," Selphie said as she dragged a wheel over to where Dave was working.  
  
"You said that about me?" He said as he worked on the train's pistons.  
  
"I…er… never mind" She said as she hurried off.  
  
Five minutes later, the train was up and ready to go.  
  
"EVERYONE IN!!" Dave called out as he jumped into the cab.  
  
"The first ride of the indomitable begins now, yeehaw!" Irvine called out, jumping onto the train.  
  
And with that, the train pulled out slowly, it's wheels squeaking slightly.  
  
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(Authors note: nothing doing at the moment. It'll get more interesting soon. Please believe me!) 


	5. An old Enemy

Time Crush  
  
Chapter 5  
  
"Indomitable?" Dave said to Irvine as the cowboy jumped into the cab.  
  
"What? It was the best name I could come up with on short notice."  
  
"Yeah, but Indomitable? That's a fucking lousy name."  
  
"So sue me."  
  
"Will you two shut up and pay attention. We have a problem. Xiao is reverting back to her cat form. She's grown a tail. They're gonna find out, then shit really is gonna hit the fan." Loki said to the two boys.  
  
"You know, little lady's got a point."  
  
"I know."  
  
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"TRAIN!!!!!!! Train! Train! Traaaain!!!" Selphie called out as they journey went on.  
  
"Selphie, calm down. We may be moving, but we've still got to figure out what caused all this." Quistis said to the short brown haired girl.  
  
"It'll be Ultimecia again." Squall said, sourly.  
  
"Um, excuse me. Why is this Ultimecia?" Yuna asked.  
  
"What? Don't tell me you don't… oh, yeah. You're not from here. Ultimecia was an evil sorceress who tried to destroy the universe just over two years ago. But," Rinoa said to Yuna, then turned to Squall, " I don't get it. I thought I'd received her powers, but I'm not getting sort of signal."  
  
"Rinoa, you got Adel's power. It was Matron who got Ultimecia's power." Quistis said to the girl.  
  
"YUNIE!" Rikku called out.  
  
"What 's wrong, Rikku?"  
  
"Have you got the white mage dress sphere?"  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Because, Yuffie's gotten worse. I want to use some magic, because she might not make it without."  
  
"OK." She threw the sphere to the Al Bhed girl, who caught it.  
  
"Train!!! Whoo Hoo!!!!!!"  
  
"SELPHIE! Shut up!" Squall growled.  
  
"Hey, are you ok?" Quistis said to Emma.  
  
Why did she have to show up? Right when I'd gotten over her, she comes back into my life, and tears my heart up again, Emma thought to herself as she stared at the floor.  
  
"Emma, are you feeling ok?" Quistis said again.  
  
"Huh? Yeah, I'm fine." Why me? Why now? Why HER?  
  
---------------------------------------------------------  
  
"HUNGRY!!!!" Quina shouted.  
  
"Quina, sit down and be quiet. We'll be stopping soon, and then you can get some food."  
  
"Man, this is flippin amazing! Broken wreck to fully functional powerhouse in twenty flippin minutes. Flippin brilliant!"  
  
"Um, Brid. If you don't stop talking right now, the girls in here WILL kill you." Zell said to the hunter who was sitting opposite him.  
  
"IDIOT" Fujin said to Brid, then snuggled back onto Zell's shoulder.  
  
Paine was saying nothing. She was trying to make sense of what was going on in her head. What is this I'm feeling? Am I in love…with a woman? More importantly, a rat woman? Is it love? Or is it my first true friendship? I just don't know?  
  
"Paine?"  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"Do you want to spar again, when the train stops?"  
  
"Sure. I need to get some more training done."  
  
"QUINA HUNGRY!!!"  
  
"SHUT UP!" Everyone shouted in unison.  
  
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"Aw, man. This is bad!" Irvine said as he tended the wound on his face.  
  
"No shit. Xiao, you need to stay focused." Loki said to the cat girl who was writhing on the floor in pain.  
  
"You didn't need to hit her so hard though, Loki." Dave said, pulling on the brake.  
  
"It was the only way she was going to get off of his face."  
  
""Fair enough. Let's get her sorted out, and then stop off for a rest. I bet the others are at each others throats by now."  
  
"Xiao, wear this. It'll help you stay in one shape," Loki said, putting a jewelled headband on the girl.  
  
"Um…we have another problem." Dave said.  
  
"What?"  
  
"The brake isn't working."  
  
"Is that all?" Loki said.  
  
"It's kinda not going to work for ages, kinda thing."  
  
"So?"  
  
"Are you mad, woman? With no break, the train won't stop. If it won't stop, it'll crash into things!" Irvine said to Loki.  
  
Loki leaned out of the window, and started chanting again. The wheels started going slower, and eventually the train came to a stop.  
  
"You know, that is one powerful mage." Irvine said as he got out of the cab.  
  
"Yep. However, I hate magic, so it's not very impressive to me."  
  
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"DAVE!!!" Emma shouted out of the coach, once the train had stopped.  
  
"What?" Dave said as he walked up to the scared girl.  
  
"It's Yuffie. She's… well, take a look."  
  
As Dave entered the coach, he saw the little ninja sitting up, holding onto Rikku crying her eyes out.  
  
"She suddenly sat up and yelled 'He's here!' about five minutes ago. She then grabbed onto me and has been crying ever since." Rikku said as Dave walked over.  
  
"Emma, go get Loki, and sort out some scouting parties. We need food and drink. I'll deal with this." He said, taking his bag off of his back.  
  
"Right."  
  
A few moments later, Loki entered the coach, and walked over to the scared girl.  
  
"What caused this?" she asked.  
  
"Dunno, but if it was a magical surge, we'd have felt it, surely?"  
  
At this moment, Zell appeared at the door of the coach.  
  
"Yo, Loki, some of that stuff you brought is doing some really weird stuff. I think it's about to blow up or something."  
  
"Oh boy." She said.  
  
"Rikku, try and calm her down. Get some water in her, and keep her in here, ok?"  
  
"Yes, sir!"  
  
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"Well, that'd explain something, at least." Dave said as he and Loki looked at the time travelling equipment in the second coach.  
  
"Really? What does it explain?"  
  
"Dunno, but I will when I figure out who 'He' is."  
  
"the pattern fit's Yuffie's timeline. I wonder if she responded to someone coming through to here?"  
  
"That's what I'm thinking, but the only dude I could think of that'd scare her so much would be…Oh shit."  
  
"It's Se…"  
  
"Yes it is. Just when you think things really couldn't get any worse, you remember that they ALWAYS can. Fan-bloody-tastic."  
  
"so, we're gonna have to fight him, aren't we?"  
  
"Yep. Don't mention this to anyone just yet. It'll be a nice surprise."  
  
"You really are sadistic, aren't you?" Loki asked the tall boy.  
  
"Only when no other alternative presents itself. Come on, let's see if we can get Yuffie up and about."  
  
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When Dave returned to the first coach, he was surprised to see Yuffie sitting up and not crying.  
  
"Wow. What happened?" He asked.  
  
"Rikku helped me through. I'm still sleepy, but I'll be fine." She looked at Rikku, and smiled.  
  
Rikku got up and walked over to Dave. "She has no idea she screamed out anything. If you've found anything out, don't tell her."  
  
Dave smiled at her. "Sure thing, Kenm!"  
  
Rikku smiled. "Thanks."  
  
Well well, Dave thought as he walked over to where Emma was organizing the group, looks like we've got another one. This is to good to be true. I'm gonna have fun with these!  
  
"Dave, I've sent Quistis, Brid, Yuna and Selphie out to get us some food, and Squall, Rinoa, Fujin and Zell have gone to get water. Irvine's working on the engine, Rikku and Yuffie are still over there, I have absolutely no idea where Quina is, Freya and Paine are sparing over there, and that leaves You, me, Loki, and Xiao."  
  
"Sounds about right. How long until they come back?"  
  
"About ten minutes. Why?"  
  
"No reason."  
  
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"Er…Quistis?" Brid said, as the group was heading back to the train, "Er…has anyone told you before that you've got flippin lovely eyes?"  
  
"In those words, no." She laughed.  
  
"Well, it's true. You do."  
  
"Well, thank you, Brid. It's very nice of you to say." She stopped, turned round and kissed the boy on the cheek.  
  
"Wow. Er…"  
  
"Not a word, ok?" She winked at him.  
  
"Right."  
  
As the group exited the forest they had been travelling through, they came across a tall man with a black cape. He was standing with his eyes closed.  
  
"HOLY SHIT! It's…" Brid started.  
  
"Silence pathetic mortal." The man said.  
  
He drew his sword, a long thin blade, and in one sweep, cut Brid's right leg off.  
  
"BRID!" Quistis cried out.  
  
"Yuna and Selphie readied themselves, as Quistis went to see if Brid was ok.  
  
"Flipin hell! Don't fight him, he'll be too strong for you. You've got to get back to the camp. GO! NOW!" he said, as he drew his own weapon.  
  
"I'm not leaving you" Quistis said to the fallen boy.  
  
"Quistis, it's just a flesh wound. Don't worry, I'll be fine. Get back to the train, and bring help!"  
  
"OK."  
  
As the girls hurried off, Brid pulled himself up using a tree, and said, "Right, you bastard, this one's for all those you killed, not caring for them. Have it, you flippin arsehole!" He drew his Katana back, and swept at the white haired warrior.  
  
The warrior caught the sword, and broke it in two.  
  
"You will pay for your actions, human. YOU WILL DIE!"  
  
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"SQUALL!!!!!!!" Quistis yelled as they got back to camp.  
  
"He's gone to get us some water. He'll be back in about twenty minutes, if his transmission was accurate. Why?" Emma asked.  
  
"We met some huge evil person. He cut Brid's leg off!"  
  
"Oh boy. I didn't think he'd show up this soon. Oh well." Dave said.  
  
"It's 'him', isn't it?" Rikku asked.  
  
"Yep."  
  
"I'm coming. Anyone who did that to Yuffie is gonna pay."  
  
"If she goes, I go" Yuffie said.  
  
"Fine. I could use some decoys, I mean back up."  
  
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As Quistis, Selphie, Yuna, Rikku, Yuffie and Dave approached, they saw the destruction that had happened.  
  
"Holy shit! Brid!" Quistis said, as she started to cry.  
  
The mangled remains of the hunter were all over the place.  
  
"Man, shouldn't have been that way. Nobody deserves to die like that." Dave said, touching his forelock as a mark of respect.  
  
"I think I'm gonna be sick!" Selphie said, and she was.  
  
""What could have done this?" Yuna asked.  
  
"Sephiroth!" Yuffie cried. She started sobbing again, and Rikku hugged her.  
  
"It's gonna be ok. Yuffie…" She said, looking at the little ninja.  
  
"Rikku…" Yuffie said, looking into Rikku's eyes.  
  
"We'll get him." Rikku said. Oh no, not again. The first one comes around, then I found out about the relationship with Cid. Then the next one stays on Besaid. Then the new one comes along, and it starts again. Then I find out about Nooj, and I'm heartbroken again. I don't think I could handle rejection again. Rikku started to sob, along with Yuffie.  
  
"Come on, you bugger. Where are you?"  
  
"RIGHT HERE!" Sephiroph said, stepping out from behind a tree.  
  
"Fucking arsehole!" Quistis yelled, drawing her whip, and charging at the warrior.  
  
Sephiroth held his hand up, and sent Quistis flying.  
  
"Don't hurt my friend!" Selphie yelled, and sent her nunchuks at the swordsman. They froze in the air, and, very slowly, turned to dust.  
  
"Holy shit!" Selphie said, backing away.  
  
"What you have done is terrible. You must pay." Yuna said as she levelled her guns. Sephiroth charged at her, and shoulder barged her, winding her.  
  
"YUNIE!" Rikku cried. "Dave, can't we do anything? He's too strong."  
  
"No he's not. I'm gonna fight him."  
  
"But you're a pacifist." The green eyed girl said.  
  
"Through choice. I can and will fight. And he's gonna wish I hadn't! I must tell you this now, I get kinda sweary after I've fought, and I have a tendancy to speak my mind, so tell Selphie to stay away from me when I'm done, ok?"  
  
"Yes, sir!"  
  
"Right. Hello, Mr Sephiroth, my name's Dave. I'm your worst nightmare!"  
  
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Author's note: Well, I told you Brid would die. Yes, the rating's gonna change soon, cos it's gonna get very violent and sweary now. I'll be posting it if I get enough reviews, so get writing. Ciao! 


End file.
